


an unexpected realization

by BookRockShooter



Series: post s6 things to help me cope [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance has Realizations, Langst, M/M, Minor Swearing, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 06, i guess?, slight angst, ugh tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 00:21:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15107840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookRockShooter/pseuds/BookRockShooter
Summary: Lance finds out about the conversation Keith had with his friends on the jungle planet, so he asks about it. This leads to him realizing something... interesting.-*post season 6*





	an unexpected realization

**Author's Note:**

> oof the ending kinda wrote itself so hopefully it's not too bad?? lmao
> 
> somebody suggested I write about Lance asking Keith about the Jungle Planet Confrontation and this is what happened,, hopefully it's not too bad lmao
> 
> so yeah, hope y'all enjoy!!

Lance is still confused.

Two days ago, Hunk and Pidge literally fell onto him sobbing and declaring their platonic love for him all the while apologizing for being jerks (well, maybe not _exactly,_ but hey, that’s how Lance wants to remember it). He’s relieved, sure, because he’d missed their friendship, but he’s still wondering what prompted it. Knowing his friends, they didn’t just randomly think _hey, we’ve been mean to Lance lately, we should do something about that!_

So he asks them about it, of course.

They’re back to flying again, and Lance puts Red on autopilot before contacting Hunk and Pidge on their video comms. After checking to make sure that Black and Blue aren’t connected at the moment, he turns to address his friends. “So, I just wanna know – and don’t, like, take this the wrong way – what made you guys… realize how I felt?”

Pidge levels him with her usual unimpressed stare. Lance stares back, hoping he looks just as apathetic. “You mean, besides you actually talking to us?”

“Listen –” Lance starts, but Hunk jumps in with, “We’re still really sorry, man. We should’ve realized something was up and said something. I still feel horrible about it.” Hunk’s guilty expression makes Lance soften, and he smiles slightly.

“It’s okay, buddy.”

“Communication is key,” Pidge says dryly, but she’s starting to look less annoyed now too, so Lance figures it’s a win-win for them all. “I thought you would’ve already known, actually. You and Keith are better friends now, right?” Then she wiggles her eyebrows at him, and Lance just stares at her. _What?_

“Well, yeah, I’d consider him a… good friend, really,” he admits, and is he _blushing? What?_ He rubs the back of his neck nervously, avoiding his friends’ eyes. “But, uh, what’s that gotta do with anything?”

Hunk looks unimpressed now, but he’s nicer about it; he doesn’t answer as sarcastically as Pidge had. “You really don’t know? Lance, man, Keith is the one who told us how you felt about… us. And what we’d said. All that.”

“Yeah,” Pidge adds on. “When we were on the jungle planet the other day, he was really testy and we asked what was wrong, and he eventually started ranting about how - admittedly – terrible we’d been towards you, and also said something about how he’d trust you with his life? That was it, right?” She says the last part mostly to Hunk, who both don’t notice Lance’s hanging jaw or wide eyes or flushed face. _Are they serious?_ he thinks, wondering what the hell had prompted Keith to say all of that. Like, he’s grateful, of course he is, but why did he feel the need to confront them?

“He said that,” Hunk confirms, turning back to Lance. Lance glances between his friends disbelievingly, wondering if what they said was true, and they just stare at him  
expectantly.

“He… actually said that?” Lance finally asks, his words holding a bit of wonder in them, and his friends both nod. Lance sits back in his chair, staring out of Red’s window to look at Black. He can’t see from where he is, but he imagines that Keith is in Black’s pilot chair, probably staring out at the galaxy before them. He does that a lot, Lance has noticed.

At the thought, he shakes his head and turns back to the open video comms in front of him. Hunk looks concerned, but Pidge is eyeing him with what looks to be mounting suspicion, and Lance doesn’t trust that expression, even if it is on a friend. So, after a quick, “Hey, yeah, I suddenly remembered that I need to… go… nap! Yeah!” and ignoring his friends’ protests, he disconnects and cuts off his communication from Yellow and Green temporarily. Then he contacts the Black lion.

Shiro answers, and when he sees Lance, he smiles kindly. “Oh, Lance! How’re you doing?”

“Uh, fine,” Lance answers distractedly, bouncing his leg. He peers over Shiro’s shoulder to see if Keith is there, but from his angle, he can only see Keith’s mom leaning against the wall and staring back at Lance. Lance smiles awkwardly and waves. He hasn’t spoken to Krolia much, so he’s surprised when she smiles back, even if it is a small one.

Shiro must notice Lance’s not-so-subtle attempt at looking for Keith, because he says, “He’s asleep right now, but I can wake him up for you if you want.”  
Lance winces. Of the whole team, Lance thinks that Keith is one of the ones who needs the most rest. He shakes his head and says, “Nah, that’s fine. It’s not super important. I’ll talk to him later.”

Of course, at that moment, Keith suddenly appears on screen, still looking tired, and says, “Lance? What’s up? Are you okay?” He suddenly becomes more alert and a worried look crosses his features, as though the thought of Lance needing help was one of importance to him. Lance knows by now that it most likely is – they’re friends and teammates, why wouldn’t it be? – but- still. It’s strange. He knows it shouldn’t be, but… it still is.

Lance still smiles even as his thoughts take a bitter turn. “Hey, man. No, everything’s good. I just… wanted to ask you about something. Is that okay?”

Keith blinks, looking confused. “Yeah, of course it’s okay. Uh, Krolia, Shiro-?”

“We’ll just step outside,” Shiro says, grinning. “I think Yorak’s growing lonely, wandering Black all alone.”

“Yorak?” Lance mutters under his breath, grinning. He doesn’t remember hearing the name of Keith’s space wolf until now. He _has_ to ask about that now.

Not noticing Lance’s grin, Keith nods at Shiro, so he and Krolia both leave the cockpit. Once Keith is by himself, he turns to Lance and says, “So, what’s up?”

Lance keeps grinning. “Your wolf’s name is Yorak?”

Keith’s face turns an alarming shade of red very quickly, and he drops his gaze. “Uh, yeah,” he mutters, and Lance giggles. _Yorak._ It sounds so strange, yet… cute. It fits, actually.

“It, uh, it’s an interesting name,” Lance admits. “Very unique.” Keith rolls his eyes at that, but he does smile a little, at least. _Good,_ Lance thinks. “Why that name, though?”

Keith studies Lance for a moment. “You can’t laugh at the reasoning,” he demands, and Lance nods in eager agreement. Keith takes a breath, then says, “While on that trip with… my mom, we… experienced a lot of weird time things, like flashbacks and glimpses of the future.”

“Wait, the future?” Lance interrupts, eyes going wide. “That’s crazy! Did you see any about us winning against Sendak or getting to Earth safely?”

“No, actually,” Keith says, tilting his head. “But, uh, the future vision I saw already happened, so it’s… it doesn’t matter now. It involved Shiro being… uh…”

Lance sobers up at that, and Keith’s expression makes his heart sort of pang. “Oh. Right. Uh, I’m sorry for mentioning it.”

“It’s okay,” Keith says, smiling at Lance, and Lance can’t help but smile back. _He needs to smile way more often,_ Lance thinks, and not for the first time. He just wants his friend to be _happy._ “But in one of the flashbacks, I saw my parents with me as a baby, and my mom… wanted to name me… Yorak.”

Lance has to admit that that was the last thing he was expecting, but at Keith’s embarrassed expression, he decides that teasing him like he would’ve done a month ago wouldn’t be the best decision. So he says, “Wow. That’s actually really sweet. I think the name fits your wolf, actually. And if I’m being honest, I think ‘Keith’ fits you better than 'Yorak' would’ve.”

Keith lets out a surprised huff of a laugh at that. “Thanks, I think.”

“It’s definitely a compliment,” Lance says, grinning.

“Then my thanks is more sincere now,” Keith says, and he smiles for a moment longer before adding, “What did you want to talk about before?”

Lance is distracted by Keith’s smile again, and it takes a second for him to realize that he needs to answer. He jumps and says, “Oh, yeah! Uh, I was talking to Hunk and Pidge earlier, and they mentioned the conversation you guys had about me. And, basically, they said that… you were defending me, and that you’d trust me with your life? And, I dunno, I think I was surprised because they made it sound like you were just so sure when you said it, and personally I don’t really get it, so I was just… wondering about that. Uh. Yeah.” Lance ends up staring out the window at the stars they’re flying through, and he tries to focus on them to calm himself down.

“Of course I was sure?” Keith says, soft and confused. Lance turns back to see Keith’s eyebrows furrow. “Why wouldn’t I be? Lance, you’re a friend and teammate, so I would trust you with my life, if it came down to it. I mean, I hope it doesn’t, but, uh, if it did…”

“Yeah, let’s not think about that,” Lance laughs, but his laugh is kind of choked. Keith would willingly trust Lance with his _life._ That’s… Lance can barely comprehend it. “But, uh, thanks for clarifying that. That’s- that’s a lot of trust to put in somebody, y’know.”

“Well, yeah,” Keith says, and he looks so serious. Lance finally lets himself smile at Keith again, and he thinks _God, I love him._

Lance’s smile falls.

_Love?_

That… was unexpected.

_I love him?_ he thinks frantically, and he knows he probably looks like he’s just seen a ghost, but he can’t really focus on that.

He’s just realized that he loves Keith. And the more he thinks about it, the less it seems as though he means it in a friendly way. _What._

“Oh my god,” he says out loud, and Keith squints at him.

“Lance? Uh, what-“

“Nothing!” Lance says quickly, forcing a laugh that sounds fake even to his own ears. “Just, uh, tired. Yeah, I’m exhausted.” He almost fakes a yawn, but decides at the last second that Keith would definitely notice. So instead, he just smiles too big and adds, “So, yeah, I’m gonna take a nap. You should, too, man, you look tired.” It’s partly true, but he’s mostly saying it so Keith can go so Lance can just _be alone._ He really needs to be alone right now, and just... process this.

Keith still looks confused, but he says, “Uh, yeah, alright. Sleep well, Lance.” Keith gives him a barely visible smile, then turns the comm off.

Lance slides down in his seat and stares at the ceiling of the cockpit. “What the hell?” he mutters to himself, dragging a hand down his face. He’s suddenly tired, for real. “Keith? Why _Keith?”_

He drifts off a few minutes later, his agitated thoughts swirling and Keith’s smile still fresh on his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> o o f was this ending,,, unexpected?? haha get it- (i need to sleep lmfao it's going on 2am)
> 
> idk i literally wasn't planning for this but as i was writing my brain was like "and lance realizes he loves keith,,, nOW" and i was like "lmao aight guess that's how this is"
> 
> hhh i'm hoping this ending isn't like bad lmao lemme know what you think!!
> 
> ugh i love these space boys sm i can't wait for them to become canon irl


End file.
